1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a tile spacer configured for placement between tiles so that the tiles are equally spaced and lined up during installation.
2. Description of Related Art
Tiles are generally provided in a uniform shape for a tiling project, typically a rectangular or square shape. During tile laying, tiles are usually placed in a grid pattern with adjacent tiles being spaced apart by a set or uniform distance. Once the tiles have been positioned, grout and/or glue is used to affix each tile to an installation surface and the spaces between adjacent tiles are filled in with grout. It is especially difficult to position tiles properly when working on a wall or other surface since the tiles may move or slide while gluing/affixing due to the force of gravity. This is a problem because when tiles are not uniformly spaced, the final product, e.g., the look of the tile wall, is degraded and is not aesthetically pleasing to the end user.
Flat plastic or wood cross-shaped spacers have been used in the tiling industry to provide equal spacing between tiles. Typically, after the first tile is laid, a cross-shaped spacer is positioned at each corner of the tile and adjacent tiles are then laid against the cross-shaped spacer. Each arm of the cross-shaped spacer provides spacing between adjacent tiles while the center of the cross-shaped spacer provides spacing between diagonally disposed tiles. In this way, four tiles may be positioned together to form a grid with substantially uniform spacing therebetween. Unfortunately, the thickness of the plastic or wood cross-shaped spacers is usually smaller than that of the tiles being used which makes it hard to remove the spacers after the tile has been glued in place. When a spacer cannot be removed, a contractor or other tile layer often leaves the spacer in place and covers the spacer with grout. This can cause cracks in the grout because the grout does not adhere to the spacers. In addition, when a spacer is used on a wall it is more likely to get stuck between the tiles since the upper tiles will press against the spacer due to gravity. If a spacer is unable to be removed from a side wall or ceiling the resultant cracking may cause the tiles to more easily fall off the wall which may be a hazard to a user of the tiled room. Thus, the ability to remove a spacer from the tile after affixing the tile to a surface is another problem in the tiling industry.
A number of different tile spacers have been developed to overcome these problems. Some tile spacers have a handle attached to a spacer and some have increased height so that the spacer can extend past the surface of tiles for removal. However, these attempts do not effectively solve the problem of tiling on side walls or ceilings because, by placing tile spacers in between tiles, tiles on a wall are neither securely lined up nor attached to the wall due to gravity.